Here’s What Drinking A Lot Of Coffee Really Does To You

More than 146 billion cups of coffee are consumed in America every single year, and the number worldwide is much, much higher.

Because it’s such a widely-consumed beverage, it’s been the object of plenty of studies.

Most studies around coffee indicate those who consume a moderate amount of coffee (around three to five 8oz. glasses a day) will see some form of health benefit.

Links between coffee consumption and a reduction in cancer risk have been made, There have also been links between moderate coffee consumption and the reduction in Parkinson’s disease development.

Not to mention the fact that there are several studies implicating moderate coffee consumption to a longer lifespan.

And this is just a quick list of ways coffee might help to make your life better. But what about drinking a lot of coffee?

Most people assume because of the high levels of caffeine that it can’t possibly be good for you.

Until recently there hadn’t been many studies investigating what excessive coffee consumption would do for your health.

Recently, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Rockville and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, both in Maryland, conducted research to see how high levels of coffee consumption will affect those coffee hounds.

Surprisingly, drinking a lot of coffee doesn’t seem to have an effect on people. In fact, their research showed drinking a lot of coffee could help extend your life.

The researchers surveyed highly caffeinated people and found that between the time of an initial check-up and a follow-up checkup, that high coffee drinkers were less likely to die.

They discovered that it didn’t really matter between who drank regular and decaf coffee, both groups were likely to see benefits. This led them to believe that it wasn’t necessarily the caffeine leading to the health benefits, but more than likely the plant-based antioxidants in the coffee that were making people healthier.

Part of the reason they suspected these antioxidants (plant based-polyphenols) were the foundation for longevity is because they noticed that people who drink instant coffee didn’t have the same results as regular coffee drinkers.

The reason this matters is because instant coffee doesn’t have as many antioxidants (plant based-polyphenols) as the latter types of coffee, and observationally it might make sense their absence is detracting from the observed health benefits.

The researchers concluded:

“’These results provide further evidence that coffee drinking can be part of a healthy diet and may provide reassurance to those who drink coffee and enjoy it.’

With its unwavering popularity, research into coffee is guaranteed to continue. The authors hope that future studies focus more on how the preparation of coffee influences health outcomes.

For now, it seems firmly established that coffee has a raft of health benefits.’”